Electric clothes drier



7 May 7, 1929.

Filed Oct, 12; 1925 J.S.SHANKS ELECTRIC CLOTHES DRIER 4 Sheets-Sheet l O O O O O o E O E o O O O N o Q 0 W g 0 O O O W o O a s o a? o O Q 3' 0 1 {5'1 0 Q 0 0 T gwuemtoo John S. Shanks iaa Q 5' May 7, 1929. J. s. SHANKS ELECTRIC CLOTHES DRIER Filed Oct; 12, 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO gwvi'ntov V SS/zan/ilSi John ELECTRIC CLOTHES DRIER Filed Oct. 12, 1925 fiheets-Sheet 5 O O O y 1929'. J. s. SHANKS I 1,712,009

ELECTRIC CLOTHES DRIER Filed Oct. 12, 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 1.51 E-T-T gnaw/21M 539W! John S? Shanks Patented May 7, 1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN S. SHANKS, OF CANTON, OHIQ, ASSIGNOB TO THE CANTON CLOTHES DRYER COMPANY, OF CANTON, OHIO, A CGRPQRATION OF OHIO. I

ELECTRIC CLOTHES DRIER.

Application filed Getober 12, 1825. Serial No. 61,951.

The invention relates to cabinets for drying clothes and the like by circulating heated air through the same; and the object of the improvement is to heat, act upon and circulate the air by an electric element without the use of other circulating means, in such a manner that the moisture carried by the air from the clothes will be modified so as to bleach the clothes, which may be caused by a decomposition of the moisture into its gaseous elements.

By these means the cabinet may be snbstantially closed during the drying of a batch of clothes by a repeated circulation of the contained air through the same; the repeated circulation of the air being induced solely by the electric element and the natural flow of heated air, substantially with. out any external influence or effects, and the cabinet may be operated without special outlet openings.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing,- forming part hereof, in which Figure I is a front elevation of the drier with one door open, showing clothing therein for drying;

Fig. II, a plan section of the drier above the radiator flue, on line II-II, Figs. IV VI and VII;

Fig. III, a plan section of the drier through the radiator tube, on line III-III, Figs. IV, VI, and VII;

Fig. IV, an elevation section of the drier, on line IV-IV, Figs. II, III, VI and VII;

Fig. V, a fragmentary plan of the top of the equalizing chamber;

Fig. VI, an elevation cross section on line VIVI, Figs. II, III and IV; and

F ig. VII an elevation cross section on line VII-VII, Figs. II, III and IV.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the drawings.

The drier cabinet may be and usually is made of sheet metal, preferably with imperforate top wall 1 and a perforate bottom wall 2, front and rear walls 3 and i, and end walls 5 and 6; and the upper part of the front Wall 3 may be provided with doors 7 and 8 hinged at or near the corners of the cabinet, as shown in Fig. 1.

A radiator flue 9 is located near above the bottom of the cabinet and efr e 4 ion itudinaliy from nine end to new.

of the cabinet, at a spaced interval from the front, back and bottom walls to permit a circulation of air downward around the sides and lengthwise along the bottom of the flue.

One end of the radiator flue, herein re ferred to as the forward end, is closed as by a door or removable cap 10, andthe other end of the flue herein referred to as the rear end, opens at 11 directly into the cabinet adjacent to the end wall thereof.

One or more openings 12 are provided in the radiator flue 9, ator near the forward end thereof for receiving air from within the bottom of the cabinet, and as shown, a series of these openings is preferably lo cated in the median line of the bottom wall of the flue.

An equalizing chamber 13 may be formed in the bottom of the cabinet under the forward end of the radiator flue, by means of a partition wall 1% having rows of apertures 15 on each side of the median line to receive air from each side of the cabinet; and the equalizing chamber may communicate with the openings 12 in'the bottom of the radiator flue, by means of tubes 16 rising directly from the equalizing chamber.

There is thus formed a closed way for the continuous circulation of air from the bottom of the cabinet at the forward end thereof, into the forward end of the radiator flue through the openings 12 therein, in and along the radiator flue to the rear end thereof, upward within the rear end of the cabinet from near the bottom to the top thereof, forward within the top of the cabinet from the rear to the forward end thereof, and downward within the forward end of the cabinet from the top to the bottom thereof; whence a circulation of the same air may be continuously repeated, as long as the way remains substantially closed to external influences.

hen the doors are closed the air within the cabinet may be heated and circulated as described for the purpose of drying clothes 17 hanging on bars 18 in the cabinet above the radiator flue, by means of an electric element 19 located in the forward end of the radiator flue; and the moisture carried from the clothes is modified so as to bleach the clothes, by the same electric element, which is n" 'erahl g caonstructed and automatically One or more tubular cores 20 made of refractory material are longitudinally located in the forward end of the radiator flue, three of such tubular cores being shown in the drawings with the middle core located directly above the series of openings 12 in the bottom of the flue, so as to be directly impinged by the moisture laden current of air entering the flue from the bottom of the cabinet.

Electric conducting coils 21, preferably arranged in parallel are wound around the respective tubular cores, the coil windings being closer together at the rear ends than at the forward ends thereof, so that the tubular cores will be more intensely heated at their rearward ends than at their forward ends.

The coils 21 may be connected with an ordinary electric light circuit, the same being usually supplied with alternating current by means of conductor wires 22 and 22', having terminal pins 23 and 23', protruding outside the end of the cabinet, and adapted to be engaged by a suitable terminal socket, not shown, connected with the electric circuit.

When using electric conducting coils arranged to consume about 2000 to 2500 watts per hour, the best results have been obtained by the use of tubes about eighteen inches long with openings about five-eighths of an inch in diameter, with the windings as described; but it will be understood that these proportions may be varied to suit different conditions in the current, and in a different number and arrangement of the tubes.

In operation, the electric conducting coils heat the surrounding air and the adjacent walls of the radiator flue in the usual manner; and also highly heat the tubular cores with a greater intensity at the rearward ends than at the forward ends, thereby inducing a flow of air through the tubes from the cooler forward ends and discharging the same fromthe bottom rearward ends thereof. The heated air discharged from the rearward ends of the tubes sets up a flow of the air which has been heated around the tubes, rearward through the radiator flue whence it rises upward within the rear end of the cabinet to the top thereof.

The heated air displaced from the forward end of the radiator flue, draws cooler air from the bottom of the cabinet through the openings in the same end of the flue; and the air displaced from the bottom of the cabinet, draws air downward from the top of the cabinet, thereby inducing a draft from the top of the cabinet, and sets u circulation of air within the cabinet, whic continues as long as the same is substantially closed from external influence.

The heated air flowing downward within the cabinet takes up moisture from the clothes therein, and when the miosture laden air flows into the forward end of the radiator flue through the openings therein, it impinges the electric conducting coils, and is there heated, and the moisture in the moisture laden air is decomposed or modified, so that the heated air has a bleaching quality, and so that the current of air flowing from the heating element through the radiator flue and upward to the top of the cabinet, and thence downward through the cabinet serves not only to dry the clothes therein, but as well to bleach them during the drying process by the action of the chemical component of the modified heated air which bleaehes the clothes.

It is probable that the moisture laden air surrounding the electrically charged wires, acts substantially the same as a liquid bath in which electrically loaded wires are located, especially when alternating currentis used; and as electricity always travels the shortest way, it is bound to travel from one wire to another through moisture laden air, substantially the same as it travels through a liquid bath under similar circumstances, it being understood the moisture from the clothes will necessarily contain some salts as a result of the laundry process.

It will be understood that by reason of the large cross area of the cabinet, as compared with the cross areas of the radiator flue, the flow of air downward within the cabinet will be so slow as to permit counter currents of heated air to rise within the cabinet; and that the median position of the radiator flue in the bottom of the cabinet will generally cause the air heated thereb to rise intermediate the side walls thereo and the cooler air to descent along the side walls thereof; and also that the ascending currents of hotter air and the descending currents of cooler air will interfere more or less with each other and create cross or eddying currents, which will facilitate the drying and bleaching processes.

The radiator flue may be provided with bafiles 24 to impede the flow of heated air therein; also with deflectors 25, 25' and 25", to properly direct the flow of heated air rising therefrom; and the cabinet may be provided with a cross screen above the radiator flue to protect clothes in the drier from impinging the flue; but these devices have been described elsewhere, and comprise no part of the present improvement.

During each operation for drying a batch of clothes, the doors and the external opening from the duct will be kept closed, and the drying process is carried on by a continuous circulation of air through the cabinet and the flue, the circulation being continuously repeated until the clothes are fully dried; after which the doors are opened, the

clothes removed from the drier, and a new batch placed therein for another drying operation.

I claim:

1. A drier for clothes and the like including a cabinet, a longitudinal radiator flue therein in the bottom portion thereof and spaced from the bottom and side walls thereof receiving air from within the bottom portion of the cabinet and delivering it for circulating within the cabinet and a tubular electric heater in the flue inducing a circulation of air through the flue.

2. A drier for clothes and the like including a cabinet, a longitudinal radiator therein in the bottom portion thereof and spaced from the bottom and side Walls thereof receiving air from Within the bottom portion.

of the cabinet and delivering air for circulating within the cabinet, and a tubular electric conducting coil in the path of the air received from the cabinet for heating and modifying the air to dry and bleach the clothes and inducing a circulation of air through the flue.

3. A drier for clothes and the like including a cabinet, a longitudinal radiator flue in the bottom portion thereof and spaced from the bottom and side walls thereof, and the flue being provided with an opening in one end thereof for receiving air from Within the bottom portion of the cabinet and circulating it within the cabinet, and a tubular electric conducting coil in the radiator flue for heating and modifying the air and bleaching the clothes and inducing a circulation of air through the flue.

4. A drier for clothes and the like including a cabinet, a longitudinal radiator flue in the bottom portion thereof and spaced from the bottom and side walls thereof, and the flue being provided with an opening in one end thereof for receiving air from within the bottom portion of the cabinet, and circulating it within the cabinet, and a tubular electric heating element in the flue inducing a flow of air through the same.

5. A drier for clothes and the like includ ing a cabinet, a longitudinal radiator flue in the bottom portion thereof and spaced from the bottom and side walls.thereof, and the flue being provided with an opening in one end thereof for receiving air from Within the bottom portion of the cabinet, and circulating it Within the cabinet, and a tubular electric conducting coil in the radiator flue over the opening therein impinged by moisture laden air received through the opening and inducing a circulation of air through the flue.

In testimony that I claim the above, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

JOHN S. SHANKS. 

